


you can dance if you want to

by Jace_Diaz_Of_Hell



Category: Final Space (Cartoon)
Genre: Multi, polyspace babies
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-03
Updated: 2020-02-03
Packaged: 2021-02-28 04:35:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,088
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22547899
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jace_Diaz_Of_Hell/pseuds/Jace_Diaz_Of_Hell
Summary: Nebula Goodspeed loves to dance.
Relationships: Quinn Airgone/Avocato/Gary Goodspeed
Comments: 1
Kudos: 7





	you can dance if you want to

Nebula wasn’t even a year old when it started- just barely old enough to walk on her own. She had been having one of her epic tantrums, and nothing Quinn was doing would calm her baby down.

When she wouldn’t stop screaming, stamping her tiny feet, Quinn decided to get Gary. 

He sat down on the floor, smiling at her, and Nebula stopped crying for just a moment to look at him curiously. Then the wailing started again. He held out his arms and Nebula toddled right into them, shoving her messy, tearstained face into his jacket. 

Gary rubbed her back and hummed a few notes, and Nebula’s crying ceased immediately. When he paused, her face crumpled, and he hurriedly started humming again, breaking into song a moment later.

Quinn recognized it as an old country song-  _ Check Yes Or No.  _ It was a sappy one, and she wasn’t sure if she had heard Gary even  _ listen  _ to it before. 

Nebula stopped crying and nestled down into his arms, watching him sing. When the song was over she giggled, clapping clumsily, and Gary beamed at her. 

From then on, they knew what to do. If Nebula started getting too cranky they would settle her down in her cot and have AVA play some music. Every time, she would calm down and listen, a look of delight on her little baby face.

* * *

When Nebula was three, she had learned she could ask for music on her own, and it was a delight to her. 

Quinn loved watching their daughter- loved the way she would playfight with Avocato until he tried to teach her something real, at which point she would pause and demand cuddles; loved the way she would tug on her little brown curls and ask “Hair, mommy?” when she wanted a new style; loved how much she adored music, bopping along clumsily and trying to sing.

And, whenever she got in the mood and Gary was around-

“Dance, Daddy!!” She begged, tugging on his metal hand. “With me!”

“I don’t know, sweetie,” He said, grinning. “Are you sure you’re ready?”

“Yea-oh wait!! AVA, please?”

“Since you asked so nicely…” The AI said, sounding amused, and Nebula squealed. She thought it was wonderful fun- living in a place where everyone was her friend and her family, even the place they lived in. 

_ Footloose  _ started blasting over the speakers, and Nebula  _ shrieked  _ in delight at the beginning of her favorite dance song, reaching out for Gary with both hands. 

He picked her up easily and set her on his feet, watching as she gripped at his fingers to keep herself steady.

Once he could be certain she wouldn’t fall, he led her into a simple swing dance, watching her laugh until she was breathless.

* * *

“Mer, come on, come on!”

_ What are those kids up to? _

“Alright, just- show me how to do it again, you know I can’t memorize the moves!”

“Okay, okay, watch- so you do this, then this, and this- got it?”

“Got it! AVA, hit it!”

Music starts playing from down the hall. Avocato groans and rolls out of bed, and Quinn can’t help but laugh.

“This is  _ your  _ fault,” She tells Gary, whose eyes just began to open. They both get out of bed and follow their husband down the hall. He’s standing in the doorway, just watching their kids. Nebula is showing the dance moves to Americato, one at a time.

“So, if we do it together- yeah!”

“ _ AY, MACARENA!”  _ Americato yells along with the music, and Nebula bursts out giggling in surprise.

Gary bursts out laughing, and even Avocato snorts. Quinn, for her credit, somehow manages to keep from doing anything but smiling. 

“Aren’t you kids supposed to be asleep this time of night?” Her husband asks over the sound of Gary’s laughter, and Nebula jumps like she did the time she got caught raiding the cookie jar. 

“Sorry Daddy!”

* * *

“Dad, I’ve told you before, I  _ don’t  _ like fighting!”

Nebula stomps her foot, a petulant expression on her eleven year old face. Avocato kind of misses the times she would try and get out of training via affection or food, even naps if she was desperate enough. 

He sighs, pinches the bridge of his nose as he tries to keep calm. They’ve been through this argument a hundred times, but at least he knows something new that he might be able to persuade her with. 

“I know you don’t, Neb. And I hope you’ll never have to. But just in case-”

“It’s best I train.” Nebula finishes, rolling her eyes. “I’m  _ never  _ going to have to fight. I’ve got you, and Dad, and Mom, and then I’m gonna be a singer when I’m grown up. The most I’ll have to fight is the common cold.”

“But you can’t  _ know  _ that for sure.” He says. “I always thought my future was set in stone- I never even considered that I’d be married to your other parents or have more kids, and here I am.”

“That has nothing to do with fighting.” She snaps back and, God, if Little Cato wasn’t this much of a rebel at her age he’d be worrying he was doing something wrong. Her face softens, almost as though she can tell what he’s thinking. “ Dad, I know what happened to Little Cato when he was my age. But things are different now, and you and mom and Dad beat all the  _ worst  _ guys. I just… I don’t want to be a fighter. It’s not me.”

Okay. She’s not angry anymore, so maybe he has a chance to swing this his way.

“I know, Nebula. I just want to be sure you can stand up for yourself if there ever comes a day.”

She sighs, her head drooping, and Avocato squats down so he can be eye level with her. 

“Have you ever heard of Capoeira?” He asks.

She blinks, looking up in confusion. This- this is different from their normal arguments. 

“No…” She says slowly.

“It’s a form of human martial arts.” He says, and pushes her bangs back out of her face. “Another name for it is  _ dance fighting.  _ You wanna give it a go?”

Nebula grins.

* * *

Years later, Nebula Goodspeed stands backstage. She’s wearing a form fitting jumpsuit, and she’s smiling so brightly it feels like her face is going to crack. 

The openers call her name. The fans start screaming. 

Nebula dances out onto the stage, taking the mic like it’s what she was born to do. 


End file.
